featuring guest authors; crafting tips and projects; recipes from food editor and sleuthing sidekick Cloris McWerther; and decorating, travel, fashion, health, beauty, and finance tips from the rest of the American Woman editors.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

TRAVEL WITH SERENA--A CARRY-ON TIP

Marlys Vandenburg, American Woman’s fashion editor, was scheduled to blog today, but Marlys has informed me she has better things to do and has left me in the lurch at the last minute. This is so typical of laprima donna Marlys. You’ll see what I mean once Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun by author Lois Winston is released in January. For now, you’ll just have to take my word for it. Luckily travel editor Serena Brower has another travel tip handy and agreed to step in as a last minute replacement. -- AP

Benvenuto! Willkomen! Beinvenue! Welcome! Serena Brower here again. That Marlys is a real piece of work. As Anastasia said, you’ll just have to wait until January to get the full effect of what the rest of us put up with on a daily basis. For now, I’m here to offer another travel tip.

Ever notice how guys have an edge when it comes to that 1 carry-on/1 personal item rule imposed by most of the airlines? Guys don’t carry purses (well, most guys don’t.) So in essence, they get to bring TWO carry-on pieces of luggage onto the plane, whereas we women are limited to one plus a purse. Totally unfair, right?

Well, here’s how you get even. Buy yourself one of those oversized handbags, the ones big enough to hold everything, including the kitchen sink. Trust me, it will fit under the seat in front of you. Besides what you normally carry in your purse, you’ll be able to store your laptop, all your make-up and toiletries, a book or two, even a change of clothes.

Don’t want to lug a mini-suitcase under your arm once you arrive at your destination? No problem. Pack a small purse in your other carry-on. Switch to that one once you arrive.

Another great idea, Serena! And thanks for coming to my rescue today. I’ll bet our readers have had travel nightmares with all the various rules and restrictions we now have to deal with when we fly. Want to share any? Remember, anyone who posts a comment this week is entered in the book giveaway for Photo, Snap, Shot by Joanna Campbell Slan. -- AP

3 comments:

Great tip. I use it all the time for trips lasting less than 3 days. Some of the new tops and pants can be rolled up and stashed at the bottom of the bag. Unroll then when you get to the hotel and they look as good as new.

It's the make-up that gets me. I need a lot to cover all the wrinkles I've earned!

Newsletter

Keep up with Lois and Anastasia by subscribing to author Lois Winston's newsletter where you'll find special features, contests, and giveaways available only to subscribers.

SCRAPBOOK OF MURDER

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 6

SLEUTHING WOMEN II: 10 MYSTERY NOVELLAS

LITERALLY DEAD: an Empty Nest Mystery, Book 2

SLEUTHING WOMEN: 10 FIRST-IN-SERIES MYSTERIES

A collection of 10 full-length mysteries featuring murder and assorted mayhem, each the first book in an established multi-book series

A STITCH TO DIE FOR

Book 5 in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series

MOM SQUAD: a Shadow Ops Novella

WE'D RATHER BE WRITING

BAKE, LOVE, WRITE

DEFINITELY DEAD

An Empty Nest Mystery, Book 1

CRAFTY CRIMES

a Trio of Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mini-Mysteries

PATCHWORK PERIL

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mini-Mystery

DECOUPAGE CAN BE DEADLY

MOSAIC MAYHEM

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mini-Mystery

REVENGE OF THE CRAFTY CORPSE

CREWEL INTENTIONS

an Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mini-Mystery

DEATH BY KILLER MOP DOLL

ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN

THE ANASTASIA POLLACK CRAFTING MYSTERIES

Read about Anastasia in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery seriesby Lois Winston. Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the series, received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Kirkus Reviews called it "North Jersey's more mature answer to Stephanie Plum." Assault With a Deadly Glue Gunwas also a Book of the Year Award nominee from ForeWord Reviews, a Daphne du Maurier Award finalist, and a Readers Choice Award nominee from the Salt Lake City Library System. Other books in the series include Death by Killer Mop Doll, Revenge of the Crafty Corpse, Decoupage Can Be Deadly, A Stitch to Die For, and Scrapbook of Murder, plus three mini-mysteries: Crewel Intentions,Mosaic Mayhem, and Patchwork Peril. Look for more of Anastasia's adventures coming in the future.

About Me

I'm the crafts editor at American Woman magazine; the single parent of two teenage boys and a Shakespeare quoting parrot; caretaker to a semi-invalid, communist mother-in-law from Hell and her demon dog; daughter to a multi-married descendant of the Czars (supposedly); reluctant cat-sitter to Mama's extremely corpulent white Persian cat; a born Jersey girl; and star of my own amateur sleuth mystery series.